Known door handles for a vehicle which are mounted on an outer panel of a door to protrude outwardly therefrom and are operated for opening/closing the door have been disclosed. Electronic components built in the door handle are connected to a control unit provided outside the door handle via a wire harness. For example, according to a door handle described in DE19633894C (column 3-5; FIG. 1), a connector 30 is provided on a tip end of an arm 11, which is provided to extend towards inside of the door relative to a door panel 40, to protrude in a longitudinal direction of a vehicle. A micro switch 53 for outputting door lock signals is provided in the door handle so as to be remotely operable. Terminals of the micro switch 53 are connected to terminals of the connector 30 by wire harnesses 18.
With the construction of the door handle for the vehicle described in DE19633894C, a board, which is mounted with a control circuit connected to electronic components such as a micro switch built in the door handle, is not provided in the door handle. Thus, the terminals of the electronic components are connected to the terminals of the connector via the wire harnesses and the electronic components have to be connected to the board provided outside the door handle through the connector, which complicates assembling operation.
A need thus exists for a door handle device, in which a connector is configured so that a board mounted with a control circuit, which is linked to electronic components built in the door handle, and which is connectable to terminals of the electronic components and to a terminal of the connector.